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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., April 13, 2021—Named in honor of Williams College’s first Black graduate, who was admitted to Williams in 1885, the college awards its Gaius Charles Bolin Fellowships to graduate students from underrepresented groups who are working toward a Ph.D. in the humanities or in the natural, social, or behavioral sciences.
Designed to promote diversity on college faculties and encourage students to pursue careers in college teaching, the Bolin Fellowships are two-year residencies at Williams, and up to three scholars or artists are appointed each year. Fellows teach both years and devote much of the first year to the completion of dissertation work or building their professional portfolios. The second year of residency is spent on academic career development.
The Gaius Charles Bolin Fellows for 2021-22 are:
Saroya Corbett, the Gaius Charles Bolin Fellow in dance. She received her M.F.A. in dance from Temple University and is a Ph.D. candidate in Culture and Performance from the University of California, Los Angeles. The recipient of numerous grants and awards, she has participated in conferences and symposiums throughout the country, and her work has been published in the Encyclopedia of African Cultural Heritage in North America (2015) and Jazz Dance: A History of The Roots and Branches (2014). She has performed with several dance companies, including Flyground Dance Company, Kariamu & Company and CityDance Ensemble, as well as her own Saroya Corbett Dance Projects. In addition, she has taught at Temple University and Drexel University and since 2014 has served as the history/theory chair and lead instructor at the Institute for Dunham Technique Certification.
Katherine Gutiérrez, the Gaius Charles Bolin Fellow in economics. Her interests include food insecurity and social support programs, education policy, health disparities, and social determinants of health. She received her B.A. and M.A. in economics from the University of New Mexico, where she is currently working on her Ph.D. Her dissertation is focused on the effects of policy changes on health, food security, and educational outcomes, with an emphasis on the social determinants of health. Her research examines the impact of grocery taxes on household food insecurity and health status, as well as the impact of the New Mexico Legislative Lottery Scholarship and changes to it on student achievement at the University of New Mexico. She is the recipient of a research grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and has been a doctoral fellow at the University of New Mexico’s Center for Social Policy for the past three years.
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Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second-oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college’s approximately 2,000 undergraduate students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. The college is also home to roughly 100 master’s students enrolled in its renowned graduate programs in Development Economics and the History of Art (the latter offered in collaboration with the Clark Art Institute). Students’ educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions on U.S. applicants are made regardless of a student’s financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted.
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